arrested Archives

News-Update: Terrorist State of Turkey: Police arrest two Swedish journalists

November 19, 2016 by administrator

In this file photo, Turkish police arrest an employee of Kanalturk television in Istanbul as part of the government’s crackdown on media outlets. (Photo by AFP)

Turkish police have arrested two Swedish journalists in the country’s southeastern province of Diyarbakir as the Ankara government presses ahead with a large-scale crackdown following the abortive mid-July coup.

The pair were arrested on Saturday after they filmed near a military zone in the province, situated 676 kilometers east of the capital, Ankara. They were identified only by their initials as LNB and RAS, Turkey’s private Dogan news agency reported.

The two were subsequently referred to the foreigners’ department following interrogation, and are awaiting deportation.

The development came nearly a week after Turkish authorities expelled a French reporter for the Paris-based Les Jours news website.

Olivier Bertrand was detained along with a Turkish photographer in the city of Gaziantep, situated 685 kilometers southeast of Ankara, on November 11. The photographer was later released, but Bertrand was kept in custody and his phone and laptop computer were confiscated.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault described the detention as “deeply shocking and unacceptable.”

Turkey’s repressive measures against journalists following the July 15 botched putsch have been widely condemned by European officials and various rights groups.

The European Union foreign policy chief, Federica Mogherini, said on November 8 that the 28-member bloc was “gravely concerned” about the situation of press freedom in Turkey.

Turkish officials say over 240 people were killed and more than 2,100 others injured in the wake of post-coup violence.

Tens of thousands of people, including military personnel, judges and teachers, have also been suspended, dismissed or detained as part of the massive crackdown.

Turkey accuses US-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen of masterminding the coup attempt. Gulen has denied the allegation.

Source: presstv.com

Terrorist State of Turkey 7/24 non stop Arrest: Another Nine arrested in probe on daily Cumhuriyet

November 5, 2016 by administrator

Nine people were arrested on Nov. 5 in a probe that targeted Cumhuriyet, one of Turkey’s oldest and most-respected newspapers.

Those arrested were Murat Sabuncu, the daily’s editor in chief, IPI Board Member Kadri Gürsel, caricature artist Musa Kart, and Cumhuriyet Foundation board members Güraz Tekin Öz, Mustafa Kemal Güngör, Turhan Günay, Hakan Kara, Önder Çelik and Bülent Utku.

Columnists Hikmet Çetinkaya and Aydın Engin were relased on probation and were banned from traveling abroad.

Executives and columnists of Cumhuriyet were detained in a series of raids on their homes early on Oct. 31, after prosecutors initiated a probe against them on “terrorism” charges.
The Istanbul Chief Prosecutor’s Office said the operation was based on accusations that the suspects were “committing crimes on behalf of the Fethullahist Terror Organization (FETÖ) and the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).”

The arrests came a day after three more prosecutors were assigned to the probe, amid official confirmation that the original prosecutor of the investigation is currently under trial over links to the Gülen movement, widely believed to be behind July 15 coup attempt.

Turkish legal authorities have appointed Istanbul deputy chief prosecutors Hasan Yılmaz and Zafer Koç, along with terror bureau prosecutor Özgür Metin, to the investigation probing the Cumhuriyet journalists.

The three newly appointed prosecutors will reportedly help the dossier’s main prosecutor, Murat İnam, take the suspects’ testimonies.

İnam was one of the 54 suspects charged with carrying out the Selam-ı Tevhid probe against military personnel, civil servants and politicians in 2011. That probe is believed to have been carried out by prosecutors linked to the U.S.-based Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen, and İnam faces charges over Gülen links, though he is still assigned to the Cumhuriyet case for now.

Yılmaz previously handled the case of Uğur Kurt, who was hit by a stray bullet fired by police officer Sezgin Korkmaz as he was attending a funeral service at a Cemevi, an Alevi house of worship, in the restive Okmeydanı neighborhood on May 22, 2014.

Koç, meanwhile, is currently carrying out the investigation into the bogus Ergenekon coup plot case, while Metin was working in the Tokat Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office before being assigned to Istanbul.

Source: http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/nine-arrested-in-probe-on-daily-cumhuriyet-.aspx?pageID=238&nID=105743&NewsCatID=339

Turkey: The Entire Kurd Leadership are in Prison, Eight opposition HDP lawmakers arrested, including co-chairs

November 4, 2016 by administrator

DİYARBAKIR – ANKARA,

Eight lawmakers from Turkey’s opposition Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), including its co-chairs Selahattin Demirtaş and Figen Yüksekdağ, were arrested on Nov. 4 in a probe that was launched against 14 of the party’s lawmakers over alleged links to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).

The arrests of Demirtaş and Yüksekdağ along with Mardin deputy Gülser Yıldırım and Hakkari deputy Selma Irmak came couple of hours after two Diyarbakır deputies, İdris Baluken and Nursel Aydoğan, as well as Şırnak deputy Leyla Birlik were arrested by local courts. Şırnak lawmaker Ferhat Encü was also later arrested.

In raids that came early on Nov. 4, police teams detained 12 members of the party.

Faysal Sarıyıldız and Tuğba Hezer Öztürk, who were also sought for detention, escaped captures because they were abroad.

During the day-long legal proceedings, HDP deputies Ziya Pir, İmam Taşçıer and Sırrı Süreyya Önder were released on probation that included an overseas travel ban, with the former two being freed by prosecutors and the latter by a court. There are three deputies who are still under detention amid continuing proceedings.
The lawmakers’ detentions came upon the orders of the chief public prosecutors’ offices in Diyarbakır, Şırnak, Hakkari, Van and Bingöl, which took the action after the lawmakers did not show up to give testimony to officials over their summary of proceedings on charges of terror for alleged links to PKK.

The proceedings had come after probes were launched against a number of party deputies for their alleged actions carried out during the Democratic Society Congress (DTK) in the southeastern province of Diyarbakır between Dec. 26 and 27, 2015, and the Oct. 6-8, 2014, Kobane events, as well as their alleged involvement in the Kurdistan Communities Union (KCK) events.

‘Representative of hundreds of thousands of voters’

Tension rose during detentions as police tried to force Baluken to get inside the police vehicle, while people around reacted to the incident.

“Get your hands off me! I represent thousands of votes. You can’t shove my head and take me like that,” said Baluken, before entering the police car and being detained.

The detained members gave a joint defense that was prepared when the immunity of the representatives were lifted by a parliamentary vote in June, the party said, underlining that they could only questioned by the people that elected them as their representatives.

“Only the people who have elected me can question me about my political activities,” the joint defense read.
“We are the elected representatives of the people. We represent the people who voted for us, not ourselves. I am standing in front of you as a parliamentary representative and a member of parliament with impunity. I will never allow anyone disrespect to the identity that I represent and the will of my people,” it said, while adding that they did not want “to be extras in a judicial theater play ordered by [President Recep Tayyip] Erdoğan.”

According to a written statement from the Directorate General of Press and Information of the Prime Ministry, the lawmakers were detained for failing to appear in response to summons by prosecutors asking for testimony in a terrorism propaganda case.

The constitutional immunity from prosecution was lifted for all parliamentarians in a vote in May, although the HDP was affected most severely by the move, with a large number of its MPs facing cases for alleged terrorist propaganda.

“As known, those who refuse to respond to summons by prosecutors asking for their testimony in probes and hence break the laws are taken into custody so as to take their testimony. The constitutional amendment on lifting the parliamentary immunity of parliament members passed with 376 votes at the Grand National Assembly of Turkey in May without a need to hold a referendum,” read an announcement from Turkish authorities.

The Diyarbakır Chief Prosecutor’s Office said in a written statement that the detention and search warrants were issued due to “strong suspicions based on solid evidence.”

There was an ongoing investigation on accusations of “being a member of an armed terror organization and terrorist propaganda,” the statement said, adding that the political immunity of the lawmakers had been lifted by parliament.

‘Those involved in terror pay price’

Those who come with elections go with elections, but they should “pay the price” if they engage in “terror,” Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım has replied to Republican People’s Party (CHP) Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu in regard to the main opposition leader’s reaction against the detention of Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) deputies.

“Politics cannot be a shield for committing a crime. Turkey is a state of law,” Yıldırım told journalists on Nov. 4, adding that HDP members should have given their testimonies when called to do so by Turkish state authorities.

“The superiority of the law is fundamental,” he added.

Yıldırım also said the internet connection issues were part of measures taken for security purposes and that they were temporary.

Justice Minister Bekir Bozdağ meanwhile, criticized HDP lawmakers for not appearing to give testimony which left no any other means than summoning them by force.

“[The prosecutor] summons and they did not go; what other solution is left? The only means left is to summon them by force,” Bozdağ said Nov. 4.

“What should be criticized is not the justice, it is the ones who violate the constitution and state of law while saying they are respecting the law, [as well as violate] the necessity of the democratic state of law and the constitution by failing to heed the summons [of the prosecutors],” he said.

Bozdağ stated that everyone is equal before the law and that the MPs were taken within the scope of the law.
“What is happening is that Turkey is a state of law and everyone is equal before the law,” he said. “The law that is implemented for everybody is also implemented for the lawmakers. Why do you feel uncomfortable with equality?”

Strict security measures were taken around the HDP building in Ankara, with the police setting up barricades on the roads leading to the building and deploying water cannon.

Yerevan: Lawyer arrested amid probe into corrupt judge case

October 29, 2016 by administrator

As part of the probe into the bribery case, instituted against a district court judge, Armenia’s Special Investigative Committee has ordered and enforced a defense lawyer’s detention.
Speaking to Tert.am, a spokesperson for the Committee, Elza Zakaryan, said that the detained lawyer is Elza Zakaryan.
Ishkhan Barseghyan, who served as a judge at the Court of First Instance of the Shengavit Administrative District (Yerevan), was arrested by national security officials while accepting a bribe of US $1,000 in an underground passage.
He was detained on Friday afternoon after the Justice Council approved a motion submitted by the prosecutor general.

Betghehem Arabyan

Yerevan: Senior tax inspector arrested for taking significant amount of bribes

October 17, 2016 by administrator

Due to the investigative measures carried out by the RA National Security service G. B., Senior Inspector of the Tax Control Division of Mashtots Tax Inspectorate of State Revenue Committee, was detained at the time of receiving bribe. RA NSS press center informs about this in the released statement.

Pursuant to the preliminary evidence in return for providing lucrative conditions to the business entities functioning in the area under his supervision, including for avoiding printing fewer cash register receipts, hiding the amount of genuine money circulation and not registering the violation of tax legislation in the manner prescribed by law, G. B has demanded and received significant amount of money on a regular basis.

A criminal case has been launched regarding the above mentioned evidences on grounds of receiving large amount of bribes (Part 3 (Point 3) of Article 311 of the RA Criminal Code). Preliminary investigation is underway.

Turkey: 43 journalists arrested, while 100 with detention warrants some 74,562 passports were canceled

August 14, 2016 by administrator

Some 43 journalists have been arrested as part a probe into the July coup attempt, while the number of detention warrants issued against professionals exceeded 100, according to a journalism association.

The Istanbul-based Platform for Independent Journalism (P24) said that with the Aug. 11 arrest of now-closed daily Zaman correspondent Ayşenur Parıldak, the number of arrested journalists with alleged links to the coup attempt rose to 43.

Some 10 days after the deadly attempt, detention warrants had been issued against 42 journalists as a part of ongoing investigations against members of the Fethullahist Organization (FETÖ).

Meanwhile some 42 employees of TRT, whose names and titles were not disclosed, were detained on Aug. 11, with sources saying anchors of the channel were also included in the list.

Amid arrests and detentions issued against journalists, authorities have also been imposing travel bans on media personnel, as the Prime Ministry’s Media Press and Information General Directorate (BYEGM) announced on Aug. 11 that based on a July 23 order of the Police Department, journalists holding grey service passports should receive a report from the BYEGM allowing their overseas travels in order to travel abroad.

According to official numbers, meanwhile, some 74,562 passports were canceled as part of the coup attempt investigations and reports emerged that some 200 journalists had been barred from entering the Turkish parliament.

The platform also said 13 journalists had been detained and five had been arrested, mostly from Kurdish media outlets, since July 15 independent from the coup attempt investigations.

August/14/2016

Source: http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/43-journalists-arrested-while-100-with-detention-warrants-after-turkeys-coup-attempt.aspx?pageID=238&nID=102821&NewsCatID=341

Turkish police detain gendarmerie officers, civilian in Hrank Dink probe

July 27, 2016 by administrator

Four gendarmerie officers of various ranks and the owner of a publishing house were detained on July 27 in Istanbul and the northern province of Trabzon, as part of the probe into the 2007 killing of Armenian-origin Turkish journalist Hrant Dink, the Hurriyet Daily News reports.

Istanbul counter-terror police detained a gendarmerie lieutenant colonel, a gendarmerie sergeant, a gendarmerie specialized sergeant, and a press house owner in Istanbul, while Trabzon police detained a gendarmerie senior sergeant in a simultaneous operation. The suspects face charges linked to the Dink murder.

Dink, 52, was shot dead with two bullets to the head in broad daylight outside the central Istanbul office of Turkish-Armenian weekly newspaper Agos, where he was working as editor-in-chief, on Jan. 19, 2007.

He was killed by Ogün Samast, a 17-year-old jobless high-school dropout who confessed to the murder and was sentenced to almost 23 years in jail in 2011.

Relatives and followers of the case have claimed that government officials, police, military personnel and members of the National Intelligence Agency (MİT) played a role in Dink’s murder by neglecting their duty to protect the journalist.

Turkey’s top court in July 2014 ruled that the investigation into the killing had been flawed, paving the way for the trial of the police officials.

How brotherly now Erdogan is with Russia, two pilots shot down Russia’s Jet to blame “ARRESTED.”

July 18, 2016 by administrator

The bomber was shot down last November. Turkey claimed the Russian plane entered its airspace, while Russia categorically denied these accusations.

“Two Turkish pilots who shot down a Russian Su-24 near the Syrian border were taken into custody, according to a senior Turkish official speaking on condition of anonymity,” Bloomberg reports, citing a high-level Turkish official.

It was reported earlier that at least one of the pilot’s responsible for downing the Russian jet took part in last week’s failed Turkish coup attempt.

The shooting down of the jet led Moscow led to a crisis in relations between Moscow and Ankara. Russian President Vladimir Putin described the incident as a “stab in the back” and imposed a number of restrictive measures against Ankara, repeatedly calling on the Turkish government to apologize and cover any material losses to the pilot’s family.

Putin signed a decree last month that lifted sanctions against Turkey, following an apology from Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Terrorist State of Turkey: Dozens arrested in Istanbul May Day clampdown

May 1, 2016 by administrator

Unauthorized May Day rallies were met with tear gas and water cannons from police in Istanbul. Clamping down across the city, authorities blocked access to the city’s central Taksim Square, well-known for protests.

An authorized gathering of hundreds of labor and union activists on the outskirts of the city near the airport was allowed to take place on Sunday, but May Day demonstrations of the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) and protesters trying to break through barriers to Taksim Square were repelled by police. Of the later group, state-run news agency Anatolia said 36 had been arrested.

Anatolia also reported that police had detained four suspected “Islamic State” (IS) militants for allegedly planning a May Day attack in Turkey’s capital of Ankara.

In a separate incident, a man was killed when a police water cannon vehicle while trying to cross the street near Taksim Square. Officials announced that they had opened an investigation into the death of the 57-year-old.

The governor of Istanbul announced that 24,500 members of Turkish security forces would be working on Sunday “to provide for the security of citizens.” May Day, traditionally celebrated as an International Labor Day, comes at a particularly tense time for Turkey this year after a series of violent terrorist attacks across the nation.

Earlier on Sunday, two police officers were killed and 22 others wounded after a car bomb exploded in the city of Gaziantep, not far from the frontier with Syria.

es/rc (AFP, Reuters)